World Snooker Championship 2020: Barry Hawkins through, Stephen Maguire out

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Barry Hawkins Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Barry Hawkins was beaten by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2013 World Championship final

Betfred World Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 31 July-16 August

Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Full details and times.

World number 15 Barry Hawkins made light work of Swiss debutant Alexander Ursenbacher with a 10-2 first-round victory at the World Championship.

Englishman Hawkins has one of the best recent records at the Crucible, reaching the final in 2013 and making four further semi-final appearances.

He held a 7-2 overnight lead and had no trouble completing the win to set up a meeting with Neil Robertson.

World number 60 Martin Gould hammered Scotland's Stephen Maguire 10-3.

Englishman Gould, 38, said before the tournament he was driven into a "dark place" by abuse on social media and was planning to retire if he did not make it through qualifying.

But he produced a stunning performance with four centuries and five further breaks of 50 or more to oust Tour Championship winner Maguire.

Wednesday saw the start of the second-round matches, with four-time champion John Higgins trailing Kurt Maflin 5-3 after the first session.

Maflin fell 2-0 behind but took four frames in a row, and although Higgins responded with a century, the Norwegian regained a two-frame advantage.

Three-time winner Mark Williams opened up a 5-3 lead over Masters champion Stuart Bingham after the first session.

The first four frames were shared but Welshman Williams took hold with three in a row - including breaks of 97 and 90 - before 2015 champion Bingham made 57 to stay in touch.

The pair resume on Thursday at 14:30 BST.

Hawkins said after his victory: "I felt I was solid enough. There were a few mistakes here and there but I felt good - but Alexander made it quite easy for me.

"I expect I will have to play a lot better against Neil (Robertson), cut out the easy mistakes I made. I need to up my game.

"I am looking forward to playing him just to see were my game is at and how much work I need to put in going forward."

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